stink

Meaning

Verb

1. (intransitive) To have a strong bad smell.
2. (informal, intransitive, stative) To be greatly inferior; to perform badly.
3. (intransitive) To give an impression of dishonesty, untruth, or sin.
4. (transitive) To cause to stink; to affect by a stink.

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A strong bad smell.
2. (countable, informal, uncountable) A complaint or objection.

Adj

1. (New-Zealand, slang) Bad; inferior; worthless.
2. (Caribbean, Guyana, Jamaica) Bad-smelling, stinky.

Synonyms

smell

👃

stench

reek

smell bad

bad smell

pong

odor

fetor

fetidness

stinking

malodour

niff

smelliness

malodorous

malodorousness

funk

mephitis

malodor

smell rotten

fuss

rot

foul

bad odour

foetor

suck

stink out

vapor

vapors

vapour

vapours

bad-smelling

be bright

be fragrant

be poor

foul smell

smell high

smell musty

smell strong

smell strongly

bad odor

offensive smell

rotten smell

frowst

fear

😨

be bad

be rank

become putrid

give off a bad odor

have an unpleasant odour

reek to high heaven

Translations

puer

stinken

Gestank

puzzare

👃

puanteur

stinken

puzzo

👃

apestar

stank

hedor

lezzo

heder

fetore

puzza

cocotter

Pronounced as (IPA)

/stɪŋk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: stynken

Inherited from Old English: stincan

Cognate with Western Frisian: stjonke

Cognate with Dutch: stinken

Cognate with German: stinken

Cognate with Danish: stinke

Cognate with Swedish: stinka

Cognate with Icelandic: stökkva

In summary

From Middle English stinken, from Old English stincan, from Proto-Germanic *stinkwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ-, *stegʷ- (“to push, thrust, strike”). Cognate with West Frisian stjonke (“to stink”), Dutch stinken (“to stink”), German stinken (“to stink”), Danish stinke (“to stink”), Swedish stinka (“to stink”), Icelandic stökkva (“to spring, leap, jump”).